Guyger v. Texas

2021 WL 3438073 (2021)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

In July 2018, D moved to the Southside Flats Apartments in Dallas where she lived alone in apartment 1378. Residents use key fobs rather than traditional keys to unlock their apartment doors. The complex has a multilevel garage with entrances on each floor. Each hallway entrance lacks any placard or other indicator showing which floor of the complex the hallway accesses or which floor of the garage can be accessed by exiting the hallway.

D, a Dallas police officer, left work at 9:33 p.m. D and her partner Martin Rivera exchanged texts about getting together later that evening. Rivera called D at 9:38 p.m., and she was on the phone with him at 9:46 p.m. when she pulled into the parking garage at her apartment complex. D continued speaking to Rivera until almost 10:00 p.m. When she parked in the garage, she believed she was on the third floor. As D walked down the hallway on the fourth floor, she believed she was on the third floor where her apartment was located. When she reached apartment 1478, she believed she was outside her own apartment. D testified that, while she was standing outside the apartment, she heard loud shuffling, like someone was walking inside. D admitted that, before she opened the door, she concluded there was a threat inside the apartment; however, she did not take a position of cover and concealment or call for backup. The door was ajar and not latched closed. D turned her key fob in the lock, which opened the door farther. D pushed open the door. D testified the next events occurred in the span of two seconds. There was no light on inside the apartment, but D said she 'heard moving around inside' and was 'scared to death.' D dropped her police vest and other equipment in front of the door to keep the door propped open. The apartment had the same floor plan as her apartment. She saw a 'silhouette figure' standing in the back of the apartment. From where she was standing near the doorway, she could not see the figure's hands. D pulled her weapon and yelled, 'Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands.' The figure walked towards her at a fast pace, yelling 'hey, hey, hey' in 'an aggressive voice.' D was focused only on the figure-Botham Jean, the lawful inhabitant of apartment 1478-and she testified she believed he was going to kill her. D fired two shots at Jean, intending, in her words, 'to kill him.' One round struck Jean in the chest. Jean fell to the ground with his feet pointed away from the couch on which he had been sitting and his head close to an ottoman and couch. D walked into the kitchen and realized she was not in her apartment. At 9:59 p.m., D called 911 with the phone in her right hand. D repeatedly told the operator she thought she had shot someone in what she believed was her apartment. From the five-minute 911 recording, the jury heard D say twenty times she thought she was in her own apartment. They also heard her say, 'stay with me, Bud,' several times, 'I fucked up,' and 'I'm gonna lose my job.' Officers Keenan Blair and Michael Lee were the first to arrive. When paramedic John Farleigh arrived at 10:08 p.m., Dallas police officers were performing CPR on Jean, but he had no pulse and was not breathing. The paramedics took over first aid from the officers and transported Jean to Baylor Medical Center, where he died without regaining consciousness. No drugs or alcohol were detected in D's blood. No blood was found on her uniform, and none of the latex gloves D carried while on duty that day had been used. Video of detectives comparing the use of D's key and Jean's key was also played, which demonstrated that when inserted into the door of apartment 1478, D's key generated a red light and would not activate the lock, but Jean's key generated a green light and made a 'whirring sound' while it unlocked the door. Texas Ranger Armstrong characterized the layout of the apartment complex as 'confusing' and discovered that about 23% of residents who lived on the third and fourth floors and 15% of residents in the entire building had, at some point, put their key fob in the wrong door. Dr. Gwin explained the bullet's path indicated that either the shooter was standing over Jean and shooting down, or Jean was lying down or bent forward, in the process of getting up from the couch or ducking. D could not explain the inconsistency between her testimony that Jean was standing straight up and moving toward her when she shot him and the bullet trajectory evidence indicating Jean was shot from above or while in the process of getting up or ducking. The bullet that hit the back wall in Jean's apartment had been fired from the doorway, which was also confirmed by gunshot residue recovered on the doorframe. The jury found D guilty of murder as charged in the indictment. D appealed. D argues her reasonable mistaken belief negated the culpability for murder because although she intentionally and knowingly caused Jean's death, she had the right to act in deadly force in self-defense since her belief that deadly force was immediately necessary was reasonable under the circumstances.